


all the rest is silence

by willowcabins



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2014-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-22 00:59:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willowcabins/pseuds/willowcabins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Myka came across Helena Wells trying to edit her own schedule in the language lab one night, and somehow Myka's disapproval of Helena sparked her interest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Right 2 things; the ratings going to DEFINITELY go up its just this first chapter is super tame and i hate false advertising, and secondly the title is from a poem by WH Auden.

The language lab was draughty: Myka pulled her coat around herself and shivered as she tried to concentrate on the final listening exercise. Tiredness magnified the bite of the cold, but Myka was determined to finish this assignment. She blinked rapidly twice, rubbed her hands together and sat up.

The computer’s quiet tapping seemed to be magnified by the empty room, but Myka was used to having the language lab to herself. Few other students made use of the lab’s 24-hour open hours.

Her phone buzzed on the desk next to her: an inviting distraction she had ignored twice before. Myka sighed and leaned back in her chair to read Pete’s texts.

“I’m so sorry to inform you, but your friend Pete just died. The coroner’s report shows it was boredom of studying.” Myka chuckled and rolled her eyes, clicking to see the next text.

“Can I borrow 37 dollars when I resurrect myself tomorrow? There is a first edition Marvel comic someone’s selling on Craigslist and I want it.”

“Mykaaaaaa.” The last text embodied her best friend’s tell tale whine and Myka couldn’t help but grin, tiling her phone so she could quickly reply.

“I’m leaving the language lab in 2 minutes. Can I get you anything to eat to make the pain of midterm studying go away?” She offered, sending the text and snapping her phone back together. Before she had even put it down it vibrated in reply though.

“Studying ruined my appetite,” came the immediate reply, “Though I think Steve might really appreciate some maple popcorn.” Myka smirked.

“I’ll make sure I get ‘Steve’s treat,” Myka assured her best friend.

“No, it really is for Steve,” the next text insisted. Myka ignored it and rolled her eyes, sending an identical text to Claudia and Leena.

“Important question: are you going to go by Timmy Hoe’s before it closes?” came Claudia’s reply while Leena rejected the offer. Myka smiled at Claudia and checked the clock on her computer. She had another half an hour before the coffee chain closed.

“Probably,” she replied.

“AWESOME can you get me some timbits,” came Claudia’s instantaneous reply. Myka smirked and slipped her phone back in her pocket.

She stared at the computer screen and blinked, desperately trying to make herself focus on the last module as it focused and unfocused in front of her eyes. She was distracted for a second as the door opened and closed softly, a responding draught ghosting along Myka’s spine. She didn’t look up though, assuming the janitors where changing the bins and continued with her work stoically.

Fifteen minutes later she reached the end with an accomplished sigh, stretching languidly as the computer slowly logged her off. She glanced around the room and was surprised to see another girl sitting in the corner on the computer nearest to the door. Myka gathered herself together and collected her bag, swinging it over her shoulder and picking up her binder. The other girl looked up and smiled.

“Good evening,” she said cordially as Myka approached her, walking towards the door. Myka’s ears perked at the British accent and she grinned despite herself.

“Evening,” Myka replied, returning the polite smile. As she walked past the computer she glanced at the black screen and stopped. “If you’re having trouble with the software, IT is open 24-7,” Myka told the girl helpfully. The girl laughed.

“I’m not having trouble with the software,” she explained. Myka raised an eyebrow.

“CompSci student?” She asked, confused. This was a language lab, so it made no sense that a compsci student would be using the facility. The computers wouldn’t have the right software…

“More like lazy student,” she supplied with a wink as she turned back to the computer. Myka stared at her in amazement.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Do you take Physics?” The girl interrupted.

“What?” Myka blinked in surprise.

“Do you take Physics 203 with Frederic?” The question wasn’t rude, despite the abrupt manner with which it was delivered. Myka recovered quickly.

“No, I’m in pre-law right now, and I’m taking Nielson’s Chemistry class as my science requirement,” Myka admitted shyly, biting her lip. “I know someone who takes that class though and she _loves_ it,” she added quickly. The brunette gave her a searching look.

“Does she find the material difficult though?” She asked, narrowing her eyes. Myka tilted her head and bit her lip again, thoughtfully. “I don’t want to be bored.”

“She’s the most intelligent person I know and yes, she does. So I don’t think you should worry.” The brunette grinned broadly.

“I will take your word for it, Miss Myka Bering,” she hummed cheerfully. Myka did a double take.

“You know my name?” she asked, surprised. The girl grinned at gestured at the binder Myka was holding.

“It’s in bright green on that binder. Yes I know your name. I’m Helena, by the way.” She threw the exclamation about her name over her shoulder as Myka continued to hover there. She swallowed dryly before she repeated her earlier concern.

“What do you mean, you’re a lazy student, Helena?” Helena didn’t stop what she was doing, casting an impish grin in Myka’s direction.

“Can you keep a secret?” She asked, lowering her voice conspiratorially and turning from the computer to Myka. Myka gulped but then nodded apprehensively. “It’s easiest to hack into the mainframe from the language lab computers because the firewall is weaker. It was weakened in order to allow the language software to interact with the network.”

“And?” Myka didn’t like where this is going.

“And,” Helena finished, drawing out the word and turning back to the screen, “I am using this to hack into the mainframe and rearrange my scheduling slightly.”

“Rearrange my scheduling slightly?” Myka narrowed her eyes. This sounded like cheating. “Add-drop period ended like two weeks ago. You can’t change classes without express permission from the University.”

“Oh, I know. It’s just I’m a bit bored of the physics class I’m in. So I’m bumping myself up a level.” Myka tilted her head and opened her mouth as if to something but then decided better of it, closing her mouth and tilting her head again.

“You’re doing this so you can go _up_ a physics class?” She clarified. Helena grinned.

“Yeah: according to my advisor I didn’t have the right credits to go straight to Fredrick’s course but I know I am _more_ than qualified so I decided to screw bureaucracy and go for it.” Myka shifted uncomfortably.

“Bureaucracy is there for a reason,” she muttered. Helena laughed.

“I don’t know Myka,” she laughed, “sometimes it just feels unnecessary.” Myka swallowed again.

“But this is cheating!” She whispered, her voice dropping to a barely audible level as if there was someone else in the large empty hall. There wasn’t: it was just Myka and Helena. “I should report you!” Helena shrugged, turning back to the computer.

“That would invoke more bureaucracy,” she sighed in reply. Myka stared at her in confusion. Who _was_ this girl? Too annoyed at the situation and at this girl for incriminating her by association Myka just stormed out, glancing at her watch and realising she would probably have to run so that she wouldn’t miss Tim Hortons. She left before she could hear Helena saying goodbye.

There was a long line at Tim Hortons: a small elderly woman was manning the cash register and making all the tired, studying students their bagels. Myka played with her phone, flipping it open and closed in impatience as she obsessed about Helena and her stupid _stupid_ need to cheat.

Who did she think she was anyway? The twisting in Myka’s stomach grew tenser and she wished she had something to distract herself with.

Why did it bother her so much anyway?

As if on queue, her phone buzzed. “Where are you?” Claudia didn’t do greetings. Myka smiled despite herself.

“I’m getting you Tims,” she replied. “There’s a long queue so I am stuck here for a while longer.”

“More than 10 minutes?” Claudia asked and Myka could hear a bang in the background. She frowned.

“Yes, more than 10 minutes. What’s happening at the house, Clauds?”

“I just left: I’m coming up to join you!” Myka smiled, pleased at the surprise.

“Awesome! Why?”

“To keep Pete interested in studying, Jinksie has started throwing around a football every time that Pete gets an answer right. It’s getting annoying because Steve is the worst shot in the world and football is _constantly_ banging against the walls.” Myka laughed and shuffled forward in the queue slightly.

“Well, that does _not_ sound fun,” she agreed with a sigh.

“So, I’ll be there asap,” Claudia confirmed. “Don’t die of boredom without me.” They hung up.

The minutes ticked by. When there was no entertainment, the twisting worry about Helena the Cheater seemed to grow in the pit of Myka’s stomach, fermenting and rotting as Myka tried to concentrate on literally anything else. The putrid colour of the walls and the tired, dejected whispers around Myka offered little relief.

Myka was close to dying without Claudia as the younger student poked her in the shoulder announcing her presence. “Dude, how long have you been standing here?” She demanded, looking behind them.

“Like 10 minutes?” Myka offered, frowning at the fact there were still twenty people ahead of them.

“Ugh I hate it when these places are so inefficient,” Claudia sighed, taking off her thick winter coat and draping it over her arm. Myka nodded, shifting slightly.

“Yeah, especially because it means we’re gonna miss the convenience store and Pete won’t get any maple popcorn.” Myka agreed. Claudia pouted.

“We’ll buy him a donut,” she comforted Myka. “As long as its food, Pete doesn’t really care.” Myka chuckled.

“It’s true,” she agreed.

“Did you have a lot to do at the language lab?” Claudia asked, glancing down at her watch, raising an eyebrow. “It’s late, even for you.”

“There was some girl there,” Myka sighed. Claudia raised an eyebrow.

“Some girl?” She asked. Myka chuckled, covering her face in exasperation at how tired she was.

“Yeah: she was changing classes. She and I got talking,” She clarified. Claudia did a double take.

“Say what?” She asked, her voice a beautiful imitation of a confused comedian. “Add-Drop period ended like two weeks ago!”

“Well,” Myka’s voice dropped to a barely audible whisper and Claudia leaned in conspiratorially. “She wasn’t exactly _ethical_ in her maneuvers.” Claudia gasped.

“Ohmygod _spill_ Myka. I want to know this girl’s secret. What did you say her name was?” Claudia flicked open her smart phone. “I need to Facebook stalk her, casually run into her and then become her _best friend ever_. I don’t know anyone else who’s done that!”

“Anyone else?” Myka repeated the phrase, scandalized. Claudia brushed it off.

“I didn’t _actually_ do anything, Myka,” she excused herself. “I was just seeing whether I _could_ do it,”

“You’re impossible,” Myka sighed, rolling her eyes and suppressing the proud smirk for a bit.

“This is true,” Claudia agreed, “now tell me her name.” The facebook app was ready but Myka shook her head.

“She only introduced herself as Helena and I’ve never seen her before so I’m pretty sure she isn’t in the Faculty of Arts.” She explained. Claudia typed in Helena anyway.

“Helena Chan?” She offered, showing Myka the profile picture. Myka shook her head.

“Helena Pitman?”

“Oh no, I know her. She’s in my American Literature class. I don’t like her.” Claudia laughed at Myka’s pursed face.

“Helena Wells?” Claudia offered, showing Myka the picture again. Myka tilted her head and then nodded slowly. The profile picture was slightly blurry and the girl had her arm draped around a guy’s neck while cheering, but it was her.

“Yeah, that’s her in the middle,” she admitted. “I had no idea she was Helena _Wells_ though.”

“Ugh you _basically_ interacted with a celebrity,” Claudia sighed in envy. “That girl is the most intelligent engineer I have ever even _heard_ of, so if you ever talk with her again, send her in my direction.”

“Why on earth was _she_ trying to move up Physics classes though?” Myka asked, confused. “Isn’t she a fourth year?” Claudia laughed.

“You _clearly_ have not been paying attention to the engineering faculty gossip, Myka!” Claudia grinned.

“Catch me up?” Myka suggested. “All I know about her is that she won that contest at the end of last semester.” Claudia was all too happy to comply.

“That is a _bit_ of an understatement, Myka. She was the first First Year _ever_ to have won that contest. She entered under her brother’s name but the professor recognised her design and _she_ was awarded the prize. She could have been expelled but she wasn’t she was just _that_ brilliant.” Myka gave her friend a side long look.

“You need to stop swooning, Clauds,” she muttered. Claudia just grinned.

“Over Helena Wells? Not gonna happen, Myka. What class did she move to? Perhaps I should try and join her.”

“You _wouldn’t_!” Claudia laughed.

“I’m kidding, I promise! I have a soft spot for Professor Fredricks so I won’t be leaving that class any time soon.” They shuffled forward and the couple in front of them got served. Myka grinned at Claudia.

“Such a wonderful rule abiding Genius,” she teased, ruffling Claudia’s hair lightly.

“Hey!” Claudia ducked, trying to protect her hair. “I just redyed it!” She gestured at the blue strip now hanging in front of her eyes. Myka tilted her head thoughtfully.

“I preferred green,” she admitted. Claudia made a face at her.

“Next!” Myka smiled at the lady as she and Claudia stepped over.

“Finally,” Claudia muttered under her breath as Myka began listing all the foods she would need.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unpleasant lunch encounter means that some cutting words are exchanged in Chemistry class

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO i had some queries, mainly about the setting of this fic, so let me clear a few things up. This is a CANADIAN college au bc i go to University in Canada and I have NO idea about American universities, so I decided instead of messing it up I would just set it in Canada (something I HOPED would be made obvious by the Tim Hortons)
> 
> This fic is unbeta'd -- sry about the mistakes!

Chapter 2

"Where's Claud?" Myka pulled out the chair and sat down, swinging her bag onto the table and narrowly avoiding Pete's head, who ducked just in time.

"She's got a physics lab," Steve explained, stirring together his couscous. "She'll probably be here in 5 minutes or so."

"Oh, I forgot," Myka chastised herself, sitting down clumsily. She glanced at Pete's glum expression before hazarding the question. "How was your midterm?" Pete groaned through a mouthful of cold pizza.

"It was the worst thing  _ever_ ," He complained, small flecks of food landing on his plate. Steve glanced at Myka, not understanding the mumbling, food muffled complaint. Myka did.

"Don't  _exaggerate_ ," she chastised him with an affectionate shove. He pulled a face at her and Myka laughed, unpacking her own lunch from her bag.

"Well,  _I_  thought it was fine," Steve said, smiling at Myka. "He asked reasonable questions, though I did run out of time."

"Nerd," Pete grumbled.

"I see that as a compliment," Steve clarified. Leena chuckled next to Steve.

"I think all of us would," she agreed. Pete stuck his tongue out at Leena.

" _Why_ am I friends with you guys again?" Pete asked Myka with a lost expression. "You all just bully me all the time."

"Beats me," Myka agreed with a shrug, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Is Pete complaining that we're mean to him again?" Claudia appeared behind Pete with a grin. He looked up and narrowed his eyes at Claudia as Myka laughed.

"How did you know?!" He demanded.

"Your whiny voice carries." Claudia leaned between Myka and Pete to collect her high five from Steve as Pete chuckled, shaking his head in defeat.

"Good one," he admitted. Claudia winked at him.

"My infinite wit should not surprise you, young pad wan."

"How am I your student? I am  _clearly_  the older and wiser!" Pete protested. Claudia walked around their small table to sit down next to Steve with an exaggerated eye roll.

"Older, yes. Wiser? As if," she protested. Pete put his hands up in despair.

"Everyone's against me today!" he complained again. Claudia laughed.

"It's true, Pete. By the way guys, meet HG!" Myka twisted around in her seat to see the computer hacker from the night before standing behind Pete. "She's my new physics partner!" Myka gaped at her.

"Hello," HG smiled at the group before sitting down next to Pete, opposite Claudia. Myka leaned forward to stare at Helena past Pete. Pete didn't notice her accusatory stare: he was busy giving HG an appreciative stare.

"Hello, I don't think we've met." He smiled at her and stuck out his hand. "I'm Pete."

"HG," HG unnecessarily repeated, smiling coyly. Her hair was up in a neat bun but some strands framed her face and she tucked it behind her ear flirtatiously.

"HG! That's such a nice name!"

"It's short for Helena."

"Helena?" Steve asked, tilting his head inquisitively. "What about the G?"

"Ah, that's just my middle name," she dismissed easily. Steve shrugged and let it drop.

"So you and Claudia are in the same physics lab?" Pete asked, turn around in his seat so he was completely facing HG and blocking out Myka. Myka sighed and pulled 'The Norton Anthology of Literature' out of her bag. She didn't care. She had to catch up with some reading anyway.

"Right, I need to get me some lunch. I forgot to pack any." Claudia rose from the table and made to walk over to the food court. Myka grabbed her arm as she walked past and walked with her.

"What are you doing?" Myka hissed at Claudia, grabbing her arm as they left the table. Claudia glanced behind her tp the table where they were leaving HG and Pete to talk animatedly.

"Talking to my academic idol? How about you?" Claudia seemed genuinely confused about Myka's annoyance. They stepped in the hall way outside of the seating area and Myka spun Claudia around so they were standing face to face.

"She cheated! You can't hang out with a cheater!" Claudia frowned at Myka.

"Why not? It's not like she's contagious or something…"

"No, that's not what I'm implying." Myka brushed off the comment irritably as she tried to focus. What  _did_  bother her about HG? (or Helena? She'd introduced herself to Myka as Helena but to her friends as HG it was frustrating really, what  _should_  Myka call her?)

"Then what? What's bothering you?" Claudia asked. Myka sighed and turned to lean against the wall in defeat. She frowned and looked down at her nails, fiddling with her fingers thoughtfully.

"Why does she have to be so confident about it?" She asked Claudia quietly. Claudia chuckled and leaned against the wall.

"Because she's  _frakking_  badass?" She asked, smirking. Myka frowned.

"I don't like her," she mumbled. Claudia rolled her eyes.

"It's a shame you can be this uptight sometimes, you know, Myka. She's  _really_  awesome." Myka bristled.

"I'm not  _uptight_ , Claudia. I just like rules to be respect, every now and then."

"Not when it comes to her, man. I swear, she should live  _outside_  the rules." Myka rolled her eyes.

"Go get your lunch," she said, glancing down at her watch. "I have to go to Chemistry soon anyway." Claudia grinned.

"Sure thing, captain." She mockingly saluted Myka before skipping towards the food counters. Myka watched her go, shaking her head in disbelief and then returning to the table. Leena had switched seats with Steve, so now she was sitting opposite Myka.

"You looked lonely," she explained with a shrug. Myka smiled gratefully.

"How has your day been going?" She asked, instead. Leena shrugged.

"Pedestrian, for the most part," she admitted. Myka raised her eyebrows at Leena. Leena just shrugged.

"We do  _sometimes_  use big words in education too, you know?" She teased. Myka smirked.

"I know," she teased. "It's just, you know, you  _do_  get your bachelors in bed."

"BEd!" Leena corrected. "It's short for bachelor in education!" Myka just nodded knowingly.

"Sure, Leena.  _Sure_."

"What are we doing?" Claudia slid into the seat next to Leena, glancing between the Myka and Leena.

"Aren't you going to sit with your new best friend?" Myka asked, trying not to sound  _too_  bitter. Claudia made a face as she opened her box of Chinese food.

"HG, Pete and Steve are just discussing rugby. Count me out. Now, what are you chit-chatting about?"

"How education is an easy major and Leena is wasting her talents."

"Ah, one of my favorite topics!" Leena made a face.

"Really?!" She demanded.

"Really," Claudia smirked, rubbing her two wooden chopsticks together triumphantly. Lunch conversation flowed easily, despite the division in their table. Myka got up five minutes earlier than she normally would have, touching Pete's shoulder as goodbye before ducking out of the cafeteria and jogging towards the chemistry labs.

Helena ducked into the lecture hall and sat down behind Myka. Myka stared at her a for a full second, amazed and suddenly  _overwhelmingly_  annoyed before turning back to hurridly write down the slide. She missed half of it, and mentally blamed Helena for it. What was she  _doing_  there?!

The lecture crawled on, uninteresting and not difficult enough to in any derail Myka's furious, angry train of thought. By the end of the lecture, Myka was ready. She stood up carefully, collected her note books and scar and then turned around sharply and put her hand on her hip. "Are you stalking me?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes at Helena. Helena raised an eyebrow, sliding her own notebook into her bag, uncrossing her legs and elegantly rising above Myka.

"What do you mean?" She asked, her own tone matching Myka's aggression.

"You're friends with my friends, you-" Helena interrupted her before she could continue the list.

"Don't flatter yourself: I liked Claudia independently of you."

"So why-" Myka lowered her tone to a whisper as the TA glanced at them, "are you in my chemistry class? You're an engineer!"

"It's a science elective." Myka didn't look impressed.

"Really?" She demanded, raising an eyebrow.

"Really," HG snapped back, grabbing her bag and storming out of the class.  _Good riddance._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is VERY short, but i promise the next chapter will be longer/better and will appear within the next two weeks! MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! and thank you so much for sticking by me and my super irregular updates!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are parties and there are assignments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /whispers/ did you miss me, universe?

"Myka! Myka!" Pete's calls from down the hallway were urgent and whispered. Myka glanced at Claudia's room as she walked by and checked her watch. She should wake Claudia too – it was nearly 9am.

"What is it?" Myka asked, reaching the common area of their apartment with her typical morning impatience. Pete fidgeted and pointed at the sofa.

"There is a stranger in our apartment," he explained, voice lowered to a hushed whisper.

"What?" Myka asked, incredulous. She stepped forward, clearing the kitchen table and finally getting a clear view of the sofa. "What!" She repeated, though this time I was the beginning of an explanative. She started at the figure for a second. There was a woman, asleep on their sofa. Her shoes, coat and (oh!) her bra were all strewn around the sofa in a messy pile. Her hair was unkempt and dark, but drool had plastered half of it to her face. Makeup was still on and her clothes implied a wild evening. But even in this state of immodesty, Myka recognised HG Wells. She didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry (or go back to bed).

"Is that HG Wells?" Steve asked, appearing behind Myka toweling his hair. Myka tilted her head and sighed.

“I think so,” Pete whispered. Myka glared at him; like with everything, Pete’s whispers were incredibly loud. “Sorry,” he muttered, covering his mouth, trying to mute his whispers. Myka continued staring at the problem on the couch. Steve decided to break the silence between the three of them with another question.

“What is HG Wells doing here?” he asked, mirroring Myka’s confusion.

"I don't know..." Myka mumbled. "Did Claudia bring her home last night? I know the Engineering Faculty had a big thing..."

"No, Claudia came home with me, just after 3. It was just the two of us," Steve assured Myka.

"Did you bring her home?" Myka asked Pete, at a loss, though she knew for a fact he had gone to bed before her.

"Me? I wish! But no, no I did not.” He glanced at Myka, face lighting up. “Do you think I have a chance with her?"

"No, Pete," Steve deadpanned. Pete exhaled through his nose and rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, man. Anyway, how _was_ the party last night?" Pete asked, raising his eyebrows at Steve. Steve shrugged.

"Surprisingly rowdy.” He glanced towards their uninvited guest. “And as far as I can remember, HG was pretty up there with the drunkards."

"This is _not_ the time to discuss the party, Pete. We need to figure what to _do_ ," Myka hissed, lowering her voice again for fear of waking HG.

"Hey, I was just trying to paint a picture of the evening. Try and figure out how she got in here. Is the door locked? Steve, did you lock the door?"

"Claudia was the last person to come in..."

"I thought you said you came home together?" Myka asked, giving Pete a quick shove towards the door before turning her stern gaze towards Steve and crossing her arms again. Steve ducked his head.

"Well, yes, but Claudia was _technically_ the last person to walk through the door..." he muttered.

"Yeah, the door is unlocked," Pete determined from the other side of the room. Steve stared at the floor in shame.

"So at least we know HOW she got in here," Myka muttered.

"Well, to be fair, we have no idea how she got a key to the _building_ ," Pete defended Steve, heading back over to them.

"Potentially she lives here?" Steve offered. Myka scoffed.

"I _highly_ doubt it," she said. Steve raised an eyebrow at her.

"Still bitter about your little argument last week?" Myka shot him a glare.

"Shut up, Steve."

"Wait, you are?” Pete asked, genuinely confused. He pushed Myka in the shoulder reproachfully. “Myka, she's super cool! She and Claudia helped me fix my computer on Tuesday!"

"Your computer was broken?" Myka asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I got another virus," Pete replied, pouting. She rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"You need to stop downloading porn."

"This was _not_ from porn!" Pete was offended.

"It was from a badly uploaded Direct Download of Golden Girls Season 1," Steve supplied. Myka snorted.

"What are we talking about?" Claudia's muffled voice came behind them. They spun around and Myka shifted on the balls of her feet. Claudia tilted her head, confused at their semi-guilty faces. “What?” she asked again, when no one gave an immediate answer.

"Your new best friend is sleeping on our couch," Myka whispered harshly.

"What?" Claudia asked, voice at a normal level. Pete shushed her theatrically while Myka nodded towards the sofa. Pete glanced between Myka and Claudia, and then started preparing breakfast for himself.

"HG is on the sofa."

"HG? Really? What's she doing here? I thought Steve and I were the last to come home last night!"

"You were!"

"So why is HG here?” Claudia looked between the couch and Myka and raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Did you and her finally hook up?"

"What?” Myka had to do a double take. “Me and? Claudia! No! Never!” She huffed and threw her hands up in despair. “I don't - No! No!” Claudia’s expression didn’t change. “She's here because YOU forgot to lock the door!" Myka accused her in an reprehensible whisper.

"What do you mean?" Claudia asked, taken aback.

"You forgot to lock the door and now HG is on our sofa!" Myka said, voice rising to almost hysterical levels. Claudia’s brow furrowed and she looked between the couch and Myka again, this time entirely perturbed.

"I feel like we are missing a step here. I mean, I am now logician, but I _feel_ like you're jumping to conclusions here..." Myka wasn't smiling. Claudia rolled her eyes. "Just explain to me why HG is here."

"We don't know!" Pete explained in exasperation, buttering his toast adamantly. "She's just HERE."

"And also very very VERY fast asleep, from what I can tell. We stopped whispering like HOURS ago."

"Thanks for that Steve."

"Yeah, what vital information you gave us there, Steve-o!"

"That just supports our hypothesis that she was drunk last night."

"I can confirm that hypothesis and thus make it a confirmed hypothesis?" Pete offered, excited to be joining in on the jargon.

"A scientific fact?" Claudia asked back, throwing the suggestion back at him. Steve shrugged. Claudia made a face and then all three of them giggled. Myka shot them all looks.

"Stop smiling; do you really thing I have forgotten that this is totally your fault." Claudia rolled her eyes.

"Whether or not this is my fault, we need to decide what we are going to do with our sleeping beauty."

"We could pull pranks on her!" Pete suggested in excitement. Both Steve and Claudia sent him reprimanding looks.

"Or we could not," Steve disagreed. Pete's face fell.

"Why not?"

"HG's not really a prank kind of person?"

"Who doesn't like pranks? Other than Myka, obviously."

"Hey! Lots of people don't like pranks!"

"I SAID, other than YOU," Pete replied through a full mouth of toast. Myka punched him in the arm and he rubbed his arm, smirking.

"Well, while we are confused, can I make have breakfast?" Claudia asked, tilting her head. "Steve promised to make me french toast."

"Can I have some of that?" Myka asked.

"Were you not going to go to the library?" Steve asked, gesturing at Myka's full school bag. She shrugged and dropped it on the floor again.

"My essay can wait. Fresh french toast sounds very tempting."

"You are just curious about our sleeping visitor!" Steve teased. Myka smiled tightly.

"Most definitely," she murmured sitting down.

 

Helena woke up to the quiet sounds of talking and forks against plates and the smell of pancakes. She opened her eyes a tiny bit; bright sunlight and a brown sofa. She closed her eyes again. The light was too bright, the sound was too loud. She groaned and moved to cover her ears. The sound stopped for a few seconds, but then continued. She groaned again; louder. "Wolly," she complained, pulling at one of the pillows that always sat on the armrest. And she fumbled. This sofa had no armrest.

Helena's eyes flew open. Since when had Wolly's sofa been brown? It was blue. She swallowed and rolled over.

The WRONG people were sitting at the dining room table.

In the WRONG dining room too. Helena sat up rapidly and scrambled together while five pairs of eyes watched her. "Oh wow," she laughed, pushing a stand of hair out of her face. "oh wow, this...this is very awkward." She laughed again. Claudia leaned back on her chair, balancing on its too back legs. She grinned gleefully.

"Hey HG!"

"Hey Claudia," Helena answered, grinning back at her, unsure. "How did I end up in your flat?"

"We were gonna ask you the same thing," Myka Bering asked, giving Helena as disdainful once over. Helena tighted her lips and buried her head in her hands.

"What address is this?" She asked quietly.

"3587 Rue Henri St-Julien," Steve offered helpfully. Helena nodded. "Is this the second apartment on the left?"

"No. Its the first apartment on the left."

"Yeah, see, that's my mistake."

"You live next door to us?"

"No, my friend Wolly does though. So I think I should probably..." she glanced down at her phone. 14 missed calls. Wolly was probably worried. "I should probably head on over there?"

she doesn't know how to deal with this. This is not an etiquette she is familiar with. ESPECIALLY not when she is this hungover. How is she this hungover? She tries to remember portions of the evening before and feels she can only remember slithers.

Claudia tilts her head. "Do you want some water?" She offers, a slight smirk playing along her lips. Helena wants to wince; she SAW her last night, she KNOWS. she looks up at the ceiling in embarrassed exasperation.

"No, I'm good," she mutters, edging towards the door. "I had better leave though..."

"Well, see you around HG!" Pete is chipper, waving at HG over his french toast. HG just smiles and grimly and steps out.

She knocked on the door. Wolly answered almost immediately. "Wow, Helena," he said, stepping aside. "You could have at least TEXTED to say you were hooking up with my next door neighbours."

"What?"

"I could hear your voice through the wall like 3 seconds ago!"

"I was hooking up with anyone!" Wolly does a once over on her outfit and hair. "Yes, I went to a party last night, but that does not mean i was sleeping with anyone! God, stop it Wolly." She rolled her eyes. Wolly raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong with you this morning?" he asked, closing the door after her as she came in. Helena sighed and dramatically collapsed on Wolly’s couch. It was far less comfortable than his neighbours; perhaps it was a good thing she had slept over there?

"I'm feeling kind of shaken and hungover," she muttered dramatically, putting her arm over her eyes.

"Oh no!" Wolly immediately pulled up a chair and pushed over his half-finished coffee -- a taste confirmed it had sugar in it, but Helena didn't care. She gulped it down greedily, grateful. "That's a bad combination of emotions," Wolly encouraged her. Helena snorted.

“I accidentally picked the lock on your neighbours door and slept there instead of here.”

“Why would you do that?!” Wolly asked, his voice surprisingly calm and collected, despite his obvious surprise.

“Well, _obviously_ I thought it was your apartment,” Helena replied, opening one eye to glare at Wolly. He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“HG, you have a _key_ to my apartment.”

“May or may not have lost it,” Helena mumbled.

“What?” Wolly asked, tilting his head to one side and fixing Helena with his best parental disapproval frown. Helena made a face.

“The party was loud, there were lots of people and I may or may not have lost my keys. Which is why I couldn’t get into my own place.”

“Why didn’t you just pick your own lock?!”

“It was 4 in the morning and the security in my apartment requires far more finesse than yours. I should probably help you update that, to be honest. It was awfully easy to break in.”

“So instead of dealing with your own security system, that, may I remind you, you built yourself, you decided to get to know my neighbours by living with them?”

“Yes! Have you not been listening, Wolly?”

“Sometimes I worry about you, Helena,” Wolly sighed. Helena smirked.

“Sometimes?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “I should clearly break more laws.”

“Please please _please_ don’t. I don’t want to have to bail you out of jail. Or save you from deportation. I’m not _that_ good a law student.”

“I have faith in you.”

“I wish you didn’t.” Helena just grinned. Wolly sighed. “Should I make you some breakfast? I just finished making myself some pancakes, so I can whip you up some too if you want.”

“oh yes please! And more coffee please! Though this time without sugar.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

The library was quite on Sunday morning. Midterms were over; all the undergraduates were out enjoying freedom from those exams. The next wave would come too soon; people knew to appreciate a light work weekend whenever it came. Helena sighed; no such luck for her.

Professor Nielson did not believe in exams. "High stress, low results," he grumbled at the class. Instead, he gave six assignments per semester, each harder than the next. There was a saying at the university; if you got an A- in a Professor Nielson assignment, you were probably going to win a Nobel Prize sometimes in your life.

He was that kind of a professor.

Helena had gotten an A once. She knew she was good at this.

The assignment was due tomorrow. Helena had finished it nearly a week ago, but Professor Nielson always included bonus questions for those "looking for an intellectual challenge" and Helena was not one to back down from that. This was the penultimate assignment though; the assignment itself had taken hours of puzzling, and so Helena had no doubt that the bonus question was nearly impossible.

This hadn't stopped her from working on it for weeks. Helena was not one to give up easily.

"As far as I can tell, you're going to need an advanced textbook to solve that question," Helena's uncle, Kataranga, had recommended when she had explained the question to him. "Here, let me send you some titles of textbooks that could help. they'll be on reserve in the library, but you'll be able to use them."

"Wonderful," Helena hummed.

"How are other things?" Kataranga asked, head tilted. Helena grinned.

"I have not been threatened with suspension for at least a month now, so I would say good."

"That's what I like to hear," he chuckled. "How is Charles holding up?"

"Strangely enough, university seems to get harder when your sister no longer does your assignments for you." Katranga chuckled again.

"That does sound strange," he agrees, sharing a secretive smile with Helena.

So now Helena stood at the desk of the science library. "I want some of the reserve chemistry textbooks," she hummed. The library sighed.

"Which ones?" He asked, bored. Helena rattled off the three names and titles.

"Those have already been given to someone."

"What?" Helena asked, surprised. It was 9am on a sunday. Who /else/ was trying to do complicated chemistry? "By whom?"

"That girl over there." The librarian gestured to a corner of the library. Helena looked over, only to catch sight of none other than Myka Bering. Helena sighed, hitched her bag higher on her shoulder and walked over to where Myka sat with more confidence than she felt.

"Ms Bering," she started. Myka's head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want?" She asked. Helena pointed at the text books open in front of Helena.

"I see you're working on the bonus questions too." Myka's lip tightened.

"I finished the assignment and I thought I might as well try the challenge."

"How are you finding it?"

"Difficult."

"Professor Fredrick’s does that on purpose." Myka bristled.

"I _know that_ ," she snapped. Helena put up her hands in a symbolic gesture of peace.

"I just wanted to work together," she offered, timidly. "I have been puzzling at this problem for a week."

"Did you finish the assignment?" Helena pulled out a pristine sheet from her bag with all her scribbles on it.

"Of course." She put it down in front of Myka. Myka glanced at it, and then did a double take.

"Why did you do that calculation instead of the other calculation for question three?" She asked, brow furrowed. Helena pulled up a chair and leaned next to Myka and pulled Myka's question sheet closer.

"It's a trick question," she began to explain. "I did it your way first too, but then I realised that because the titrations are not actually used in the final formula, they are set up here as a decoy. You basically did too much work; the question is simpler." Myka's troubled look faded as she began to understand.

"Yes," she grinned, "that totally makes sense. I was _wondering_ why my number seemed so abstract."

"It's a classic Professor Nielson gimmick to make sure you're paying attention. Want to compare the rest of the assignment?"

If you had told Myka when she got up on Sunday morning that she would be spending the whole day comparing assignment notes and puzzling through one of the hardest questions Myka had ever encountered on an assignment with none other than Helena G Wells, she would have probably thrown milk in your face.

But here she was, arguing with Helena whether one could actually change the rules of physics for the purpose of an assignment.

"She never says the experiment needs to work _on earth_. We could just create a hypothetical environment where it _would_ work!"

"Without gravity?" Myka asked, sceptically. Helena grinned.

"Change the rules, Myka."

In the end, she agreed to Helena's idea.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY but i promise this fic will be finished this summer. I have had an WONDERFUL academic year academically and an AWFUL one mental healthwise, but I am on the mend and writing as much as possible again! MORE UPDATES TO COME V SOON.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Myka and Helena have chemistry. Literally _and_ metaphorically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> high fives self for the pun

CHAPTER 4

That Monday, Myka was sitting in Professor Nielson’s lecture, uncharacteristically anxious. She absently pushed back the nail bed on her hands as she waited for Professor Nielson to arrive. She glanced at her wrist watch: it was exactly noon. The lecture should have started five minutes ago. Professor Nielson banged in through the front door at the bottom of the lecture hall while the last student came in through the upper doors. Myka glanced behind her; it was Helena. She subconsciously lifted a hand, slightly; Helena grinned as she caught sight of her, skipped down the stairs and slid into the empty seat next to Myka.

“You’re late,” Myka breathed. Helena crossed her legs and grinning primly.

“Never,” she disagreed, sharing a mischievous grin with Myka. Butterflies fluttered in Myka’s stomach. Only Professor Nielson’s talking could make her turn away from that smile (a smile that seemed to be designed for _specifically_ her).

He spent an hour and a half running through complicated chemistry; Myka took frenzied notes, while next to her Helena seemed to be pencilling down questions at a painfully slow rate. Myka didn’t have time to ask though; Professor Nielson seemed to never stop speaking.

Five minutes before the end of the lecture, he stopped, suddenly.

“Now, onto the assignments” Myka gulped. Professor Nielson glared around the classroom. “I spent all weekend marking these, and I will honestly say I have never in my academic career seen such _poor_ results!” There was a sinking feeling in Myka’s stomach, and she practically slithered out of her chair with embarrassment. “This assignment had a _forty-sex_ percent _pass_ rate,” Professor Nielson continued, waving his arms around in grumpy exasperation.

Helena noticed that Myka’s face had gone ashen. She watched, confused, as Myka seemed to shrink in her chair. She glanced at Professor Nielson, but he didn’t seem to be targeting her in particular. Helena looked around her; half the class was mirroring Myka’s reaction. Helena rolled her eyes and threaded her hand through Myka’s. Myka stared at their conjoined hands, confused. Helena smiled, and turned back to listen to Artie.

“Genuinely only _two_ students managed to do well in this assignment. Everyone else, I hope you try a _lot_ harder next time.” With that, Professor Nielson dumped all eighty papers on the table, and dismissed the class.

Myka _hated_ those professors who dumped the assignments on a table. There was always a rush of students trying to find theirs, and then everyone was elbowing each other and looking at other people’s marks. Too little privacy. She made to get up and join the throng, but Helena held her back.

“Don’t go yet,” she cautioned, “wait until the rush has died down.”

“But I have to see how I did!”

“Wait _three seconds_ Myka. Anyway, we rocked that assignment! What are you so anxious about?”

“How do you know that?” Myka demanded, eyes narrowed. Helena chuckled.

“Intuition,” she said simply. Myka frowned again. She had hoped for harder facts, like “i hacked professor Nielson’s computer”. Myka sighed, and fidgeted.

“I’m convinced that we failed that last question,” she admitted. “Also, I think my math on question 4 was off; I had a dream last night that I put down two plus two is five, and now I am _pretty_ sure I did it.”

“Myka, we _checked_ that together! Don’t you remember?”

“Yeah, but what if your math was off too…”

“My math,” Helena replied haughtily, “is _never_ wrong.” Myka just bit her lip and watched the crowd around the tables thicken.

Professor Nielson was scanning the classroom and his eyes lit up when they landed on Myka. “Ms Bering!” He called, gesturing for her to come down. Myka blanched, suddenly terrified. Helena grinned at her and patted her back.

“Don’t worry!” She promised. Myka just gulped and left her stuff with Helena as she walked down to stand in front of Professor Nielson. She was sure he was going to tell her she clearly failed, and he was incredibly disappointed with her progress and she’d better leave university immediately.

“Your assignment was nearly _flawless_ ,” Professor Nielson said instead, in strangely enthusiastic excitement. Myka blinked, and then did a double take.

“What?” She asked quietly, surprised.

“Your assignment. It was amazing. I was just blown away by how you and Ms Wells both applied and twisted the material I have taught you. You two were the only two people who solved the final problem with your stroke of genius when you simulated the problem in an environment with gravity.”

“Oh...Sir...” Myka was stammering, completely overwhelmed. She looked back up at Helena, who grinned at her and gave her the thumbs up. The crowd around the paper thinned out, so Helena gestured she would get their assignments. Myka nodded and turned back to Professor Nielson, who was starting to pack up his belongings.

“I want you to come see me in my office hours,” Professor Nielson informed Myka. “I would love to hire you as a research assistant. You have shown the type of analytically minded thought process that I want on my team.”

“But _sir_ , I am just an undergraduate...”

“But an extremely gifted one,” Professor Nielson replied, waving off Myka’s protests. “Tomorrow, 4pm. I’ll be very disappointed if you don’t come.” Helena materialized at Myka’s side and handed her back her paper. “And you,” Professor Nielson added, narrowing his eyes, “I have no idea how you got into this class after Add-Drop, but you should probably come tomorrow too...”

“Tomorrow?” Helena asked, raising an eyebrow and looking between Myka and Professor Nielson.

“Professor Nielson offered us a position as a research assistant!” Myka exclaimed, excited. Helena grinned.

“Although an amazing opportunity, I already work in Dr. Calder’s lab 20 hours a week; I am so sorry Professor Nielsson.” Professor Nielsson puffed up.

“You work for Dr. Calder?!” He demanded, infuriated. Helena nodded. He narrowed his eyes at her and stalked off, grumbling under his breath. “How does she always get to the best before me?” Myka turned to Helena, head tilted.

“I didn’t know you worked as an RA.”

“There are very few things you know about me,” Helena hummed, grinning, handing Myka her assignment.

“88%,” the front of the assignment boasted. Myka’s heart nearly stopped. Helena just grinned. “Come,” she said, pulling at Myka’s sleeve. “The next class wants to come in.” Myka picked up her bag, stunned into silence. She let Helena lead her to the campus coffee shop.

“What are we doing here?” Myka asked confused as they entered the small kiosk.

“I’m getting my morning coffee.”

“Helena, its 1.30pm.”

“Yes?”

“Is this your first class?”

“Of course! Why would I schedule anything before noon unless it was unavoidable?” Myka shook her head, chuckling.

“This is my _last_ class,” she explained as they move up in line. Helena snorted.

“You’re insane,” she declared, ordering two coffees. “How do you take your coffee?” Myka was taken aback.

“Oh, with one milk. But you don’t have to...”

“You can pay me back,” Helena assured Myka, waving off the insistence. Helena turned back to the young woman making the coffees and started a conversation. They knew each other; she was in Charles’ Algebra 3 class that Helena sometimes audited for fun. Myka was amazed at how easily Helena charmed people.  

“You make friends so effortlessly,” Myka sighed, envious, as they walked away. Helena smirked.

“I have made some enemies too,” she assured Myka. “You, for instance.”

“You won me over,” Myka disagreed.

“What was it, the breaking and entering into your apartment, or the bugging you for the textbook?” Helena asked, eyes glittering. Myka laughed shakily and tilted her head.

"I think," she decided, "it was that time you blew my mind with your intelligence."

"That's a lie," Helena teased, "because the first time I blew your mind I was also engaging in some illegal activity." Myka laughed.

"Good point," she agreed. "Okay, so perhaps it was the second time." Helena snorted.

"You know, you're almost as hard to win over as my flatmate’s cat."

"Your roommate has a cat?"

"Yeah! A very moody cat called Dickens."

"Dickens?"

"Yeah, after the author. He's an English major."

"Your roommate is an English major?"

"Yeah, he reads a lot. Also complains a lot about how much he has to read."

"Is this Wolly?"

"No, no, no. Wolly refuses to room with me because I can't cook."

"Really? Are you telling me that you're bad at something?"

"Not just bad it; I am completely inept at cooking. I mostly order out or eat eggs. I can make a lot of omelettes." Myka chuckled.

"Both Pete and Steve are actually quite good cooks in our house, so I am kind of spoiled," she admitted. "Steve makes the best lasagna ever."

"What about Claudia?" Myka snorted.

"Claudia can't even make pancakes with proper supervision. She tried, once, and ended up starting a small fire."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah! She just left the oil in the pan and walked away, so _obviously_ it caught fire. She managed to put it out quickly though, so nothing bad happened."

"That sounds kind of scary...." Myka laughed.

"I've had worse," she admitted. She looked around. they had stepped out of the science building and were heading back to the center of campus. "Where are we going?"

"I have to go meet Professor Calder in twenty minutes, so I am forcing you to walk me to her lab," Helena explained with a smirk.

"You don't need to coerce me, you know." Myka commented. Helena's grin widened.

"That's something nice to here," she decided. Myka shrugged.

"What do you do for Professor Calder?"

"Biophysics, mainly. She has me simulate a lot of systems in which I measure the fluctuation of currents in nanopores. It's kind of a grueling task because there are a lot of equations involved, but she pays me a lot, so I like it."

"It must keep you busy." Helena shrugged.

"Not too busy," she admitted. "The computer program takes about twenty minutes to simulate a nanosecond, so I usually simulated three nanoseconds a day, and let the computer compute the other nanonseconds over the night."

"This is too complicated for me," Myka admitted, burying her head in her arm. The coffee in her hand sloshed around; Helena laughed.

"It's just intricate, not complicated," she explained. "But I can show you my lab if you want." Myka glanced at the time.

"You have fifteen minutes," she reminded Helena. Helena waved her off. "That's more than enough time," she decided, and started dragging Myka towards her lab.

The lab was large and empty when Myka and Helena arrived. "I work with a couple of grad students that oversee my research, but they are all night owls. I am usually in the lab by 2pm and I am still the first here." Myka laughed.

"That's insane," she muttered, running a hand over the white surfaces of the lab. Helena grinned, pleased with herself.

"It's kind of fun," she admitted. She grabbed Myka's hand and brought her over to the computer in the corner. It had an unnaturally large hard drive. "So the CPU is large enough to process the simulation," Helena explained.

"Explain it to me again," Myka asked. Helena grinned and booted up the computer. An image appeared on the screen.

"My research studies how these proteins come through this permiable membrane," she explained, indicating the image. Myka tilted her head, and nodded slowly.

"Diffusion," she recalled. Helena grinned.

"Exactly. As this protein enters through the pore though, each _individual atom_ in the pore and each _individual atom_ in the protein has a slight charge. So, my simulation checks if I run a slightly higher or slightly lower charge through this, then how will it impact the speed."

"Why do you need so many equations for that?" Myka asked. Helena glanced behind her where Myka was standing; she was frowning, and there was a slight crease in her forehead. She looked so cute when she was confused. Helena wanted to kiss her. Helena turned around and grinned.

“We can’t _always_ operate in a system without gravity, and every other important force present in our known universe, can we?” She looked so cocky, leaning against the lab table with all the equations on it. She was grinning, over pleased with herself, and Myka suddenly stepped forward, invading Helena space. Myka wavered; she didn’t know what to do next. All she knew was that she wanted to kiss that smug mouth, show Helena just how she made her stomach clench with every well-orchestrated smile.

But Myka paused, paralysed by fear and indecision. She had only ever kissed one other person before, and firstly that person had been a boy (sexuality is fluid, a little voice in the back of Myka's head that sounded oddly like Leena, whispered) and secondly that person had been a not nice boy, in the end. So she fluttered at the edge of the cliff, unable to take the plunge.

Helena took the plunge for her. She slid a hand around Myka’s neck and pulled her in for a kiss. Initially Helena's lips were soft; Myka's hands rose to cup Helena's face so she could tilt her upwards, and slowly, elegantly, kiss her again. But Helena was unimpressed, and arched up, her hand slipping from Myka's neck to her hair so she could tilt her head again. An appreciative moan, quiet but sincere, escaped Myka as she pushed herself closer against Helena. Helena, jammed between lab tables and Myka, oblvious to sharp edge digging into her bag, dropped her right hand to Myka's rib to pull her closer.

A woman at the door coughed purposefully.

Myka jumped away from Helena, spinning around to stare at the window as she wiped Helena's lip balm (honey and lavender) off her lips and tried to rearrange her hair as behind her Helena coughed, awkwardly.

"Professor Calder," Helena began, "you're early?"

"Three minutes late, actually," Professor Calder corrected. Myka pulled her sweater over her hands and turned around slowly.

"Hello, Professor," she whispered, awkwardly. Professor Calder tilted her head.

"Do I know you?" She asked, through narrowed eyes.

"I was in your organic chemistry class last semester," Myka squeaked. Professor Calder smiled in recognition.

"Ah yes, I remember! You're the Bering girl, right?"

"Myka Bering," Myka agreed.

"You had some excellent test scores," she noted. Myka gulped.

"Thanks, Professor," she stammered, her voice ascending by several octaves.

"Great taste," Professor Calder noted, nodding at Helena in approval. Helena genuinely had not it thought humanly possible to blush as red as Myka had been _before_ Professor Calder said that. She had been wrong, because miraculously, Myka blushed a shade darker.

"I had better...leave...." Myka muttered, before grabbing her bags and fleeing. Helena protested weakly, but Myka just squeaked "I have a thing" before escaping. Helena frowned, and turned to Professor Calder with a slightly sour expression. Professor Calder raised an eyebrow.

"Are _you_ going to be moody with _me_ because I caught you making out with your little girlfriend in _my_ lab?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Helena corrected automatically. Professor Calder snorted.

"Oh young love," she muttered, walking towards her desk at the front of the lab. "Always so wonderfully complicated. Now, come up here and prove to me that I have not been paying you the last two weeks for you making out with your girl every day."

"She's not mine."

"Fine, ' _a_ ' girl, then." Helena dragged herself up to the desk, laptop in tow, to show Vanessa her most up to date report.

 

After Myka had escaped the lab, she was torn between and intense desire to be swallowed by the earth, and to float away. And, because that emotion was impossible to translate into anything useful, Myka just decided to walk the long way home and called Tracy.

"What up, nerd?" Tracy greeted Myka, cheerful as always.

"Did I interrupt anything?" Myka asked, glancing down at her watch. It was nearly 2pm.

"Nah, I was just doing my calculus homework."

"Shouldn't you still be in school?"

"If you think I'm still in school, why are you calling?"

"Well, I didn't really think it through. but are you? in school?"

"No, Mr Garett was sick, so I came home early."

"You're playing hooky?"

"No!" Myka didn't answer. "Well, okay, kind of," Tracy admitted. Myka laughed.

"You rebel," she teased.

"Hmmm, very," Tracy agreed. "I am missing school to do what? oh, just more school."

"Well, High School is nearly over," Myka tried to comfort her.

"Only forty-nine more days," Tracy agreed. "and then I can _leave_." Myka frowned.

"Is Dad still being bad?" She asked, cautiously.

"Very," Tracy hummed. "After Sam, he won't let me see any boys."

"None?"

"Nope. Not a single one. Says the Myka-and-Sam incident proves that all young men are trouble."

"Ugh, I am so sorry about that."

"Why are you sorry? That has nothing to do with you! Dad is just being a butt."

"Well, still..."

"No, we are not having this argument again."

"Okay."

"So, why are you calling?"

"I need to ask for your advice."

"Advice?"

"Yes, I'm just a bit at a loss."

"Is it about a boy?"

"Not quite." Tracy laughed.

"Is it about a girl?" She asked again.

Myka swallowed audibly, nodded and then verbally added, "Yes". Tracy let out an inhuman squeak of excitement.

"Is she nice?" She demanded. "Is she smart? Do I know her?"

"Yes, yes and no," Myka answered quickly, interrupting Tracy's barrage of questions.

"I don't know her?!" Tracy repeated, surprised. "I thought you only had six friends!"

"Well, that's not true!" Myka protests. "I make new friends all the time!"

"Normally I would scoff at this, but the truth is you do _really_ have seemed to have made a new friend. Tell me all about her."

"Her name is Helena -"

"Nice name."

"Stop interrupting me!"

"Oh, right, sorry. Continue please."

"Her name is Helena and we just made out in her lab."

"She's a _grad_ student?!"

"No, no, no, no, no - she's just a research assistant."

"Just super smart," Tracy hummed. Myka could hear the edge of approval in her voice.

"So why are you calling me again?" Tracy asked.

"I - I - I don't know what to do next, honestly," Myka admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"I like her, she kissed me so I assume she likes me, but how do I say, in words, I want to kiss you more?"

"Probably like that."

"Yeah, but less dorky words."

"If she likes you, Myka, she won't want you to say it in a less dorky way." Myka laughed. And then groaned. And then buried her face in her hands.

"Why is everything so _hard_ , Tracy!" She demanded. Tracy laughed.

"I don't know, sister-mein. Because everything would be too boring otherwise?"

"That's a rubbish excuse."

"I agree."

Tracy is called down for lunch; she tries to explain to her mother that she was /busy/, but "Myka can call back, lunch is only hot once," won over, and so Myka was hung up on. She took her phone away from her face, only to see she had one text from Helena. Her heart jumped up in her throat, and she suddenly felt light headed.

/You know what's really dumb? There is no nerdy emoji of me pushing up my glasses in nerdy excitement with hearts in my eyes./ Myka snorted at the text.

/Why do you need that?/ Myka responded, grinning.

/To explain how I feel about you./

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE RESEARCH MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER IS CURRENTLY BEING DOWN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF INDIANA IN CHAMPAGNE-URBANNA also i haven't had any sciences since high school im an english major so if u don't like the science u r probs right (except with the research).


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dates and diners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the 64,000 dollar question of this chapter is "who is a bigger nerd, myka or helena"

COLLEGE AU 5

"I still don't understand why we have to go on a date." Myka was pulling at her dress. Helena grinned at her.

"Mainly so that I can see you in that dress," Helena offered, smirking. Myka shot her a glare as she shifted from foot to foot awkwardly.

"You didn't even know I owned this dress," she replies testily.

"Well, it’s true,” Helena admitted with a grin. “I would have been equally excited to see you in _any_ dress." Myka huffed.

"You are not picky," she murmured. Helena’s face brightened.

"Well, not when it comes to you," she assured Myka. Myka sighed and brushed a strand of her own wild hair back carefully.

"You are such a nerd," she sighed, though there was a grin pulling at her lips. Helena returned the smile and tilted her head.

"That's one of the things you love about me, right?" Myka scoffed and rolled her eyes. There was familiar a cheer from above them. Myka made an effort to ignore it.

"Love?" Myka asked, raising an eyebrow. Helena grinned and then looked up and waved. Myka sighed, and followed Helena’s gaze. Claudia and Pete were leaning out of Pete’s window, looking down at them.

"What are you guys doing?" Myka demanded, looking up. Helena stepped back to look up with a better view.

"You were right, Clauds!" Helena called. "Myka looks smokin'!"

"You told her I would get dressed up?" Myka called up, trying to fix Claudia with a look of aghast betrayal. She failed. Miserably.

"She wanted to know how to make you happy! This was my suggestion." Myka blushed furiously.

"I swear to _God_ , Claudia!"

"What!?" Claudia protested with mock innocence.

"Pete, punch her!" Pete shook his head resolutely.

"Me, punch a woman?" He looked aghast. "Never."

"Let's just go," Myka sighed dramatically. Helena grinned and laced her fingers through Myka's. She was wearing high heels and stood almost as tall as Myka now. Myka glanced down and raised her eyes at the heels as they began walking.

"Are you sure you can walk in those," she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How rude," Helena chastised jokingly. "Of course I can walk in them." Myka laughed and rearranged her purse across her chest carefully. Helena was holding a pocket book; it was so much more classy. She wished she had thought of that. As if Helena could read her mind, she nodded at Myka's purse.

"I love your purse, by the way." Myka sighed and fidgeted with the string with her free hand.

"You're just saying that," she complained. Helena scoffed.

"Impossible," she assured Myka. "You look amazing, and you know it." Myka blushed again, but squeezed Helena's hand happily. They came to the intersection at the end of Myka's street. She looked at Helena inquisitively.

"Where are we going?" She asked, curiously.

"I made us reservations at that nice little vegetarian restaurant on Duluth."

"The Mexican one?"

"Yeah. Pete said you might like it, though he would personally recommend Greg's Steak's." Myka laughed.

"Did you consult _all_ my friend for this date?" she asked trying to sound annoyed. In reality she was flattered at how much thought had gone into this date. Helena grinned; she could tell Myka was secretly pleased.

"Well, we've both been busy these last few weeks, so I thought I might as well try and make this date perfect. I don't want you wasting a weekend on me needlessly." Myka blushed and looked up at the trees that lined the street they were walking along. Finally, the trees had started blooming. It was pretty; everything was green and alive and she loved it. She turned towards Helena.

"I'm so glad its slowly becoming spring." She sighed. "Even if that means finals are around the corner." Helena bopped Myka with her hip.

"Hey, we can study together," she promised. "We'll study together, and that way it won't be so boring."

"Studying isn't boring!" Myka said, offended. Helena laughed.

"Nerd," She murmured affectionately, stopping and pulling Myka towards her with their laced hands. Even in her high heels, she had to get on her tip toes to reach up and kiss Myka. Myka smiled and slipped a hand into Helena's hair, pulling her closer so she could kiss her again, opening her mouth against hers.

"I'm a happy nerd, though," Myka murmured against Helena's lips.

"Those are my favorite kind," Helena assured Myka, letting her go again and nodding towards the street.

"Although I would love to continue kissing you, our reservation is for 7pm."

"You made a reservation?"

"Of course! It gets crowded on Fridays!"

"Now _you're_ the nerd."

"And I am more than happy to accept that title," Helena assured Myka. They started walking again, hand in hand, and Myka couldn't get that satisfied, love-sick smile off her face even if she tried. She genuinely couldn't remember a time when she was happier than this.

 

The restaurant Helena had made reservations at was a small little place near the university. It was a twenty minute walk from Myka's, and they made it there with about five minutes to spare. Helena had been right; it was very busy. "Your table will be ready in 10 minutes, maximum," an exhausted waitress assured Helena with an apologetic smile. "You're more than welcome to wait outside on the bench. I'll call you the second the table is ready."

"That sounds great!" Helena chirped, and she lead Myka outside again. They sat down on the bench, and Helena almost instinctively leaned into Myka, playing with her hands as she leaned against Myka's shoulder. Myka, one arm around Helena, couldn't help but grinning.

"This place looks great," she admitted. Helena looked up and grinned.

"That place is one of my favorite restaurants because it has these drawers at each table, and people leave little notes in there."

"Really?"

"Yeah, its super fun to read them all while you're waiting for food. Some of my favorite ones are from students who are applying to the university, and then there are usually fifty comments from students offering bad advice like "put rico on your speed dial for weed" and "don't come" to really good advice like "use the writing center if you need essay help" and "don't panic". I just love all the diversities. And then there is always one scrap of paper that has the beginning to a really good story, and you get frustrated because no one has ever finished it." Myka laughed. “Its usually just one sentence too, and you just wish they had written _more_.”

"You should finish them!" She complained. Helena shook her head.

"Oh god no. Between the lab and all my homework, I barely have time to see you, let alone write stories."

"What was the sentence?"

"Well, I’ve been a couple of times, but my favorite one was "and even the priest was carrying a gun"."

"Sounds like the beginning to a James Joyce short story!"

"Really? I haven't read much of his stuff."

"Yeah. I don't know. I like his stuff a lot. He's a fun modernists when you read his short stories, though I have never managed “Ulysses”." Helena laughed.

"Yeah, that does sound hard," she admitted.

"Myka? Myka Bering?" A familiar voice was saying Myka's name. Myka looked up, gulped, and paled. In front of her stood Sam Marino. She jumped up, distancing herself from Helena, as if that could reverse the damage, It couldn't. Sam had seen.

Myka swallowed awkwardly and then shifted from foot to foot.

"Sam!" She said, her exclamation lost in a breathless fervour. She made as if to shakes his hand, where Sam was going in for a hug; Myka tried to step back to avoid it, and instead nearly fell on Helena. Helena stood up to steady Myka, but Myka quickly stepped away from her touch. Helena looked between Sam and Myka awkwardly. "Hey Sam, this is my friend, Helena," Myka added quickly, waving between the two of them.

"You two were looking _mighty_ cosy to be just friends," Sam pointed out. Myka laughed awkwardly. Sam laughed with her, as if his idea was ridiculous. Helena ground her teeth, but kept silent.

"Well, this is my girlfriend, Bessie Gertrude Hayden. We're celebrating our third year anniversary tonight." Myka ducked her head to hide her blush. Helena did not understand, but still made an attempt. She offered her hand to the short blonde woman. The woman huffed, but accepted Helena's hand anyway.

"Helena Wells," Helena introduced herself. This did not get the right reaction. Helena coughed. "HG Wells," she repeated herself. Bessie narrowed her eyes.

"Aren't you the genius girl that keeps on getting suspended?" Helena beamed.

"That's me."

"Myka!" Sam turned to Myka, scandalized. She blushed furiously. "What are you doing keeping such bad company? I thought better of you!" Helena stared at him, taken aback.

"Hello, yes? I can _hear_ you." She pointed out. He laughed.

"But you _know_ what I mean! Myka loves the rules. She lives by the rules! You two are incompatible." Helena tilted her head. The fury his arrogant attitude had ignited now became a bonfire.

"Incompatible?" She repeated, eyebrow shooting up.

"Myka is no genius!" Sam tried to correct himself. As if that made anything better. Helena wanted to snarl. Instead she composed herself and began speaking in the threatening whisper that used to be reserved for only her brother.

"Myka is one of the _smartest_ people I know!"

"Helena," Myka tried to shush her awkwardly while Sam scoffed.

"Myka knows her sums," he said scathingly, "but intelligence requires creativity."

"What are you _implying_?" Helena hissed, stepping into the young man's space.

"Helena..."

"No, Myka! This man is insulting you and he is _absolute trash_!"

"Helena, let's just go..." Helena glanced at Myka. She was shaking slightly, and looking pale. Helena immediately stepped away from Sam (fucking) Marino.

"Of course," she agreed, immediately. "Let's go. I don't like eating here anyway." She grabbed Myka's hand again, and this time Myka let herself be lead away. They rounded the corner and walked for three or four blocks before Myka finally was able to stop. Her hands were shaking and she leant against a building and began crying. Helena bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

"I'm so sorry, I ruined our date, I'm so sorry," Myka whispered, staring at her shoes. The shoes she had picked out with Leena. Because she wanted Helena to see them. Helena scoffed. Myka looked up. Helena carefully cupped her cheek, thumbing away her tears.

"You can't ruin our date even if you _tried_ , Myka. And that guy wasn't even trying. This date is the best date in the world because it has you, and me. And we can get food _anywhere_. I actually know a really good diner three streets over, so that's where we're going to go right now. Who likes vegetarian food anyway? I want a burger." Myka laughed despite herself and leaned into Helena's hand. Helena stepped closer and kissed Myka gently.

"He was a massive idiot," she murmured against Myka's lips. Myka laughed despite herself. Helena grinned, pleased to see Myka happier. She carefully thumbed under Myka's eyes to straighten out her mascara again. Myka looked up at her, almost hopefully.

"Who was he?" Helena asks as she finished and stepped away. Myka sighed and pushed back her hair. She slowly started walking in the direction of Helena’s diner. Helena fell into step next to her and waited patiently for the explanation.

"A guy I dated for a while."

"What?" Helena tried to hide her horror, but Myka smiled knowingly. She shook her head and pushed her hair out of her face again.

"Well, that was before I knew he had a long distance girlfriend at university."

"You dated that _tool_?!" Helena’s attempt to supress her incredulity had failed.

"My dad really wanted me to have a boyfriend."

"And? There should have been millions of boys obsessed with you!" Myka laughed hollowly.

"There weren't. There was just Sam."

"Well, he did not deserve you." Helena

"Kind of not really," Myka agreed. Helena frowned.

"What happened?"

"I ended it."

"He didn't take it well?"

"He did not take it well _at all_. He claimed no girl ever ended with him unless he ended it. I said I didn't want anymore to do with him; he said I was just his 'bit on the side' and that I wasn't worth shit anyway. And then when I came here, and thought I could have a fresh start, he sat down next to me in English 101."

“He followed you here?”

“I don’t know if I would say that, but he certainly didn’t respect my boundaries now that we were both here.”

“Asshole.”

“He just has this _knack_ for making me feel so small. In his company, I lose all my self esteem, and suddenly “high school Myka” is back and I start fretting about my hair again.”

“Your hair? I think it’s perfect.”

“My sister use to tease me about it.”

“Because she was jealous?”

“Not _quite_ ,” Myka laughed.

Helena laughed, and pulled Myka into an alley. Myka gasped, almost involuntarily as Helena pushed her against the brick wall. "What are we doing?" Myka asked cautiously. Helena grinned.

"The diner is right behind you," she explained, "but before we went in I wanted to kiss you."

"Kiss me?"

"In a scandalous manner that would not do in public." Helena added with a wicked smirk and leaned up. It was rushed, and so wonderfully genuine and affectionate, that Myka shivered under Helena. Myka was pushed against the wall; the rough brick grazed against her bare shoulder, but it was a stark contrast against Helena's soft, gentle lips against hers. Myka's hands came up to cup Helena's hair, opening her mouth to the kiss. Helena leaned up and licked into her, and suddenly Myka couldn't breathe. She shivered again, goosebumps blooming up her arms and Helena laughed against her lips softly. She leaned back a little, and Myka took a reassuring breath of fresh air.

"If me being embarrassed by my ex is such a turn on to you..." Myka began. Helena interrupted her.

"No, _you're_ a turn on. You are so...." Helena searched for words.

Myka rolled her eyes and mockingly began supplying adjectives: "Beautiful? Intelligent? Adventurous?"

"Exciting," Helena interrupted. Exciting was not an adjective that Myka would have ever used to describe herself; she considered herself plain. Even if she wasn't _plain_ per se, she was boring. Not exciting; Myka considered herself predictable. And yet, here was Helena, eyes shining up at her, calling her 'exciting'. Myka couldn't help but blush.

"Liar," she murmured affectionately, running a hand through Helena's hair. Helena stopped her hand and looked her in the eyes, seriously.

"Don't you know how special you are, Myka Bering?" She whispered earnestly. Myka wanted to scoff, but there was something earnest in Helena's eyes that stopped her.

"Can you tell me?" Myka asked, eyes serious. Helena chuckled and stepped away.

"Come in, and I'll tell you over dinner," she promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD EXPLAIN MYSELF WITH THE SAM THING??? its less that i don't think that Myka is QUEER and more just that i wanted to highlight how dumb MOST COLLEGE-AGED BOYS R. also, how sam is not Gilbert Markham. Gilbert Markham is everything to me. if you have read the Tenant of Wildfell Hall u will get me. also, should I write a Tenant AU??? i really want to. Tell me its a bad idea, internet.


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